Sakura's Mission
by SaNdEr-ThE-rUbBeR-bAnDeR
Summary: It doesn't matter what it takes. Sakura, your mission is to delay Sasuke's arrival at Konoha for as long as possible. Even if one of you dies. ONESHOT SasuSaku


AN: So I wanted to continue some of my stories but thoughts I should take it slowly. So, to get back in the swing of things I wrote this oneshot. Tell me how you like it! XD

Sakura's Mission

Summary: It doesn't matter what it takes. Sakura, your mission is to delay Sasuke's arrival at Konoha for as long as possible. Even if one of you dies.

When she heard that, Sakura knew what he meant. Danzo, the sixth Hokage, meant, "Even if you die." That is why she accepted this mission quietly without a word to friends or family. It was all right by her, too. Before her eyes, she still saw the day Naruto lay quietly on his hospital bed, nearly fatal wounds sapping almost all his strength. He turned to her and quietly, wordlessly, shook his head. Then his tears spilled over. She understood. She was not stupid. Sakura was a genius in her own right. That was why she responded with forced conviction, "You idiot! you should be focusing your energy on getting better, not worrying about some stupid promise! I already forgot about that a long time ago." She ruffled his hair and smiled. "Please, don't risk your life like that again." But his eyes showed that he didn't believe her.

So what was she doing now? Really, what was she hoping to achieve? Did she want Sasuke to look at her? A ninja can't turn down a mission. Death, that had surrounded Sasuke for so long. Maybe it took death to bring him back to his senses.

She stopped suddenly as she sensed a foreign chakra, and quickly hid among the foliage. The strange chakra grew closer at first and then further away. She, as a ninja, did not have time to hesitate. She could always examine her emotions later. She walked down the road where she knew Sasuke was traveling. Walked up to him easily, stealthily, she could see his back before she called out, "Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke turned, there was only one voice that called him like that. Although there was a cheerful melodic lilt in her voice, the face that had spoken carried a smirk instead of the characteristic smile from long ago. "Hn. I don't have time to waste, Sakura. Get out of my way." He turned his back to her.

She sighed exaggeratedly, "It's just as it seems, you really are weak, aren't you? _Sasuke-kun?" _She was mocking him that was quite clear now. He froze. She had done this to herself, such a foolish girl deserved to die. Within moments his kusanagi lay at her throat. She smirked up at him with her round seemingly innocent eyes. "No time to waste?" Again, that mock-innocent tone. "Acually, you don't have time to look away!"

She flipped cleverly out of his reach, her feet landing against the trunk of a nearby tree, she thrust herself toward him, kunai in hand. Sasuke prepared to parry the direct attack, but in a flash she was not before him, but behind him and kicked out. An attack that would have sent him flying if he did not jump out of her reach with no time to spare. He stood on the tree branch, looking down at her. She looked up at him. "What do you want, Sakura?"

"Oh, _Sasuke-kun_ I only came to see you!" She replied cheerily. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he slowly pointed his kusanagi at her. "Remember, you walked into your grave of your own accord."

He did not hold back, his movements were as smooth as a river, quick as a waterfall. Sakura knew she was staring into the lion's mouth. For a moment, she hesitated, as she looked into his warm red eyes. Then she dodged his attack, only slightly, to grab at the hilt of his weapon, she thrust her elbow into his arm hoping to loosen his grip, but he held fast. She hooked her ankle around his foot to throw him to the floor but he responded with a quick punch that was aimed for her stomach, that she had to jump back to evade. Sasuke regarded her indifferently. Her speed had improved dramatically, it was almost enough for her to keep up with him, but not quite.

She smiled again from her position, some twenty feet away. "Is that all? _Sasuke-kun_ I'm disappointed! I really expected more from the last surviving Uchiha." Sasuke's sharingan whirled furiously. He ran at her at the same time as she did the same. He lunged forward, his sword crackling with lightning energy. She raised a punch and his sharingan recognized the chakra surrounding it. That was a punch he could not afford to take.

She ducked under his sword, and attempted an uppercut that Sasuke avoided easily. She threw another punch, one after the other. He avoided them all but had no time for a counterattack. It was when she tried to kick him that he saw an opening. He grabbed her ankle and twisted his wrist in a way that would have broken her leg had she not jumped at the last minute and used her free foot to kick his chest and flip backwards, freeing her other foot.

He wasted no time sending a Katon, after her, though he was fairly certain that she would be quick enough to take cover from his attack. He would have to locate her again quickly. Sasuke's eyes gave away his surprise when he saw her charging towards him through the fire. He saw the flames reflected in her emerald eyes and even the ends of her hair had caught fire. A fearful demon, she seemed. He had no time to react when he felt her kunai piercing his skin. In a flash he punched at her, and when she dodged in the way that he had predicted, he kicked out sending her flying backwards.

He pulled out the kunai and it dropped to the floor, blood flowed freely from his wound. He was fairly certain it had not pierced an organ. Sakura lay on the floor past the smoldering grasses around him. He walked towards her slowly, hiseyes taking in her charred skin. She smirked. "Show's over already, Sasuke?"

"Brave words coming from a ninja lying on the floor." He said, his voice steady and monotonous as he continued to advance towards her.

She waited until he was close enough before using her heel to kick the ground violently, sending giant fissures towards Sasuke. Great gaping chasms opened, and he jumped from one earthy platform to another until the ground stopped moving. When he looked up Sakura was gone. He quickly looked around, he knew better than to underestimate her. She jumped at him from behind, and he jumped away a moment too late a long, even cut ran horizontally across his back. "I did say you don't have time to look away. Are you hurt, _Sasuke-kun?_"

Sakura knew her limits, she knew she had infuriated him and she knew the amount of chakra stored in her body was significantly less than his. So when he charged at her with those murderous eyes she knew she better off avoiding his attacks than trying to get one in. Sasuke watched her, she dodged and blocked as well as she could, but every now and then she would take a hit. He glowered at her, when had Sakura been so _ annoying? _She looked up at him, and he saw those emerald green eyes that always seemed to shout, 'I love you Sasuke-kun.' But this time, they were cold, calculating, and sad. She took a hold of his collar between attacks and threw him against a tree with her monstrous strength. He fell right through it. Her hair blew in the wind as she watched him get up, His kusanagi again crackling with electricity.

He charged towards her, sword raised. It wasn't until the sword had pierced through her and into the tree behind her that he realized. _She had not attempted to avoid his attack._

She was stuck to the tree behind her, impaled by his sword. Her blood was flowing over her clothes, over his sword, over his hands. The blood was quickly pooling at her feet.

His wide eyes looked down at her and her unfaltering emerald ones looked back. She had dropped the mock-innocent act. Her eyes shone with pure sincerity. He trembled in shock.

_Why?_

She placed a hand on his chest and it took him a while to register that she was healing his wounds. He looked down at her small hand that was pulsating with a faint green energy.

"What are you doing, Sakura?" He growled.

"When we were genins…" she began slowly. "And I thought you were going to die…"

He stared down at her unbelievingly. How could she be saying this? When she was here, dying at his hand?

She swallowed with difficulty and her emerald eyes filled with tears. She attempted a weak smile as she said, "That was really the worst feeling."

He was beyond words. He could not understand a single thing that she had done today. She had taunted him, provoked him, fought with him, and let him kill her.

"I often dream… that I'm stuck in that time again… but despite everything I've learned… I can't heal you." She continued with difficulty.

"**Shut up.**" He looked at her in disbelief. Memories of Itachi swirled behind his sharingan eyes. Itachi who had loved him enough to let himself be killed for Sasuke's sake and Sakura, who was here doing the same.

"I…" She began after a moment's silence.

"**SHUT UP!"** He said again.

His wide faltering eyes looked at her from head to toe. Every bruise, every burnt mark that was on her body was because of him. Every wound, from the one in her eyes to the one through her stomach, was caused by him. And in his mind's eye, he saw Itachi again, lying at his feet drenched in blood.

"**Why did you do this?" **He said his voice faltering.

"Because, I didn't want to kill you. Because… I wanted…" Now she could feel her life's energy seeping away. Ah, so this is how it is to die. She had wondered when it would begin. "I wanted you to see, that there is… another way." She looked at him and judged her handiwork. Yes, those wounds were healing nicely now. Sasuke would be just fine.

He grabbed her shoulders, knowing that pulling his sword out would only hasten her quickly approaching death. The way she had taunted him, the way she had died for him. He had promised he never wanted someone to go through that for him like Itachi did.

"Sakura…" His throat had gone dry.

"Don't feel guilty…" Her eyes were sincere. "I wanted … this…" Her world was already going black. "I wanted you… to… live."

She blinked once and before her eyes was a young boy with jet black hair and even darker eyes. His wide blue collar hid his chin. His eyes were earnest and aloof at the same time as he said, "Sakura?"

She closed her eyes and memories of a blood stained older Sasuke fell away as she slipped into the appealing darkness that was calling out to her.


End file.
